About Fraud in South Africa

When it comes to fraud in South Africa, fraudsters have come very “creative” in taken other people’s money. Some of the scams allow criminals to clean out a client’s bank account, leaving many innocent people is serious financial situations.

The truth of the matter is that fraudsters can get personal information from unsuspected victims in many ways that seem legitimate.

One swindle is when a victim needs help with a PC telephonically and the fraudsters claim to be from computer or Software Company with a very good reputation while offering assistance to sort out the problem. This is a way that criminals gain access to PC. Payment is usually requested via EFT, allowing a criminal access to the victims banking details.

Other fraudulent frauds to look out for are:

The handheld card-skimming device – This is not only used in South Africa but also worldwide. Criminals steal bankcard information by using social engineering tactics. The criminals tell the victim that they are employees of a bank and need to verify the victim’s information by swiping their card through a machine. The device used is in fact a skimming device that captures all the detail of the client. All that the criminals need to do is figure out the victim’s PIN.

The broken credit card machine –This scam often takes place in restaurants. A waiter or other person may tell a costumer that the credit card device is not working and that they need to fetch another one. The criminal then returns with their own machine that looks like the store or restaurant’s but the device has skimming software installed that record the card’s information, including the PIN.

Bank phishing mails – People posing as bank employees will send an email stating that they need to verify their banking details or stating that they have a payment pending and a link to access the transaction. As soon as you click on these links malware are installed on the PC of the victim and their banking details are captured as they enter it.